


New Beginnings

by Captainrexsbiggestho



Series: Cityscapes and Bandaids [2]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, But with a happy ending, Clone Troopers - Freeform, Clones, Things are starting to change around here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-13
Updated: 2018-09-13
Packaged: 2019-07-11 19:37:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15979037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Captainrexsbiggestho/pseuds/Captainrexsbiggestho
Summary: Clone trooper Switch steps back into battle after recovery but his way of coping wont last forever.





	New Beginnings

After what had seemed like months of recovery but was only a couple of weeks with the help of Bacta, Clone field medic Switch stepped out onto the battlefield, his armour repainted into that familiar gold orange that marked the 212th attack battalion, General Kenobi’s battalion, lead by Marshal Commander Cody. He hated it, not the battalion, but the feeling that he betrayed his brothers by living on when he could’ve prevented their deaths, _I’m a medic for Force sake, why couldn’t I help them._ His young face was already scarred by war, his eyes held the gaze of someone much older than himself, his quietness during downtime and dedication to saving the wounded was testimony to his past. But now on this first battlefield back from recovery, his mind was focused but the memories always lingered in the back of his mind.

It was nothing he couldn’t handle, Switch had seen active battle before and was accustomed to it. He went through his routine, _wait for cover fire, retrieve the wounded, stabilize, ease their passing, save who you can, run back to the line, repeat._ This would go on for hours, to the point where his aching muscles were numb, his hands on autopilot, his armour stained red; but stopping wasn’t an option, because even after the battle medics were still needed, he was one of the few medics trained in complex surgery, the more brothers out of the hands of medical droids the better, a medical droid had determined Bitter to be too wounded to save, it let him go, he wouldn’t let that happen to another brother.  These harsh battles were becoming more regular, Switch would fight on the battlefield as long as the rest of his brothers, then work in a makeshift med bay until the very last patient was treated, it had become an obsession and the other medics were beginning to notice, they tried to make him take a break, but it wouldn’t happen, it took a direct order from the CMO to make him get a couple hours of sleep, but he was soon back working again.

This went on for weeks, the other medics began to notice that even after all the work was over, Switch was still finding something to work on, he was distracting himself, he mostly kept to himself, no one knew what was going on inside his head, no one knew about the dreams that made him terrified of sleep.

Things came crashing down during another routine assault on an enemy position, the men quickly disembarked the LAATI under heavy blaster fire, but the droids had taken to a new tactic, Switch raced to the advancing line of troops, firing as he ran, he heard a roar, then he saw it, the flames engulfing troopers that advanced, he stopped dead, frozen like his boots were made of durasteel, the screams of his squad echoed at him through pushed aside memories, his vision assaulted by the sight of the explosion, the smell of burning plastoid armour. “Switch get down!” a brother screamed at him, but the words were lost to him, another brother tackled him to the ground right as a blaster bolt flew over their heads “Get him off the frontline now!” he heard a voice of authority bark, it was Commander Cody. Switch felt himself being dragged away from enemy fire, he couldn’t will himself to move, like suddenly, the months of overworking had caught up with him, before he knew it he was on a medical transport leaving the battlefield behind.

The next day Switch found himself standing before Commander Cody trying to explain himself. “What happened out there, Switch?” the commander didn’t look angry, he was worried.

“I don’t know Sir.” Switch replied, his mismatched eyes staring off into space.

“Switch you’re a good medic, but I know your past and as far as I can see, the battlefield isn’t the right place for you, I’m going to call in some favours, you won’t step foot on another battlefield like that again.”

“But Sir! I’m a medic, I need to be out there for my brothers!” he had a panicked look written across his features.

“You will still be helping vode, but you will be helping others too, it will be more meaningful work, you need to trust me on this.”

“Ok Sir” he said quietly, the weariness was taking over.

“Switch?”

“Yessir?”

“You don’t look well, before you ship out, you’re going to have a full medical and a good sleep, and that’s an order”

He nodded, too tired and worn down to even argue the point, feeling like yet another commander would pass him on to the next after he proved to be hard work.

Switch stepped off his transport into the polluted air of Coruscant, still looking like the war had chewed him up and spit him out, which really wasn’t far from the truth. Commander Fox was waiting on the landing platform for him. “We always needed a good medic in the Guard.” He clapped Switch on the shoulder, “Its time you repainted that armour, welcome aboard.” Switch already felt welcomed, he had high hopes for his life to come.


End file.
